Friends,
Our colleagues at ACS (American Chemical Society) and APS (American Physical Society) are trying to highlight issues with both the helium *supply* and *prices*.
What would help is a couple of specifics - please feel free to write to me directly:
1) Can you share a quotable story (with names and affiliations) about anecdotes where the LACK of helium has impacted you or someone you know. (Anecdotes for which I have first-hand knowledge - are things like: we can't hire anyone in a research area where LHE is needed because of supply uncertainty or price uncertainty, we are shutting down magnet(s) because of LHE shortages, etc. Any you can share "on the record" will be helpful.)
2) Can any of you comment directly on how this has impacted your operating costs? Can you disclose a percentage increase? These figures will help paint a picture of impact. (This can be year-to-year, or aggregated over a longer period, since many of us are on long-term contracts) -- This can be "on the record" or "off the record".
Please know that we at WashU have seen a handful of supply shocks - March 2018 was a big one, followed by another shortage in Nov. 2018, and now another apparently (smaller?) shortage in 2019. Any of you who can share anecdotes of supply shocks would be helpful-it's a kind of early-warning system, especially for those who don't order weekly, like we do here.
The tireless policy arms of APS and ACS are trying to interact with Members of Congress to raise awareness of the issues here. They need stories from the "front lines", and AMMRL is some of the best source of these stories (IMO).
Hang in there, and please know people /are/ working behind the scenes,
Sophia
Sophia E. Hayes
Professor, Department of Chemistry, Washington University
1 Brookings Drive, Box 1134
St. Louis, MO 63130
Tel. (314) 935-4624 Email: hayes_at_wustl.edu
Received on Tue Feb 05 2019 - 11:40:59 MST